Fukushima Leaks Prompt Government to ‘Emergency Measures’

Japan’s government will lead
“emergency measures” to tackle radioactive water spills at the
wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, wresting control of the
disaster recovery from the plant’s heavily criticized operator,
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)

“We’ve allowed Tokyo Electric to deal with the
contaminated water situation on its own and they’ve essentially
turned it into a game of ‘Whack-a-Mole,’” Trade Minister
Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters today at Fukushima. “From now
on, the government will move to the forefront.”

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is
led by Motegi, “is working to draw up, by some time in
September, both emergency measures and more fundamental steps to
eliminate the roots of the contaminated water problem, as well
as measures to be carried out going forward,” the Prime
Minister’s office said in a response to written questions.

More than two years after the March 2011 nuclear disaster,
Tokyo Electric’s recovery effort has taken a turn for the worse.
Japan’s nuclear regulator last week questioned the company’s
ability to deal with the crisis, echoing comments earlier in the
month by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Motegi’s visit to the plant comes a week after a storage
tank leaked 300 metric tons of highly radioactive water, which
Japan’s nuclear regulator labeled a “serious incident” in its
worst assessment of the problems at Fukushima since the
earthquake and tsunami of 2011 caused reactors to melt down.

Lead Management

It’s now up to the government to lead management of the
contaminated water building up in tanks at the plant at a rate
of 400 tons a day, and leaking from underground tunnels into the
ocean, Motegi said.

The trade minister ordered the utility known as Tepco to
monitor its water storage tanks more frequently and replace the
type that leaked, as well as “thoroughly” identify the risks
of storing highly-contaminated water.

In its response to questions, the Prime Minister’s office
said the trade ministry, which oversees the world’s biggest
fleet of nuclear reactors outside the U.S. and France, will pump
more “liquid glass” or sodium silicate into the ground as one
measure to block the spread of contaminated water.

In addition to the leaky tank, Tepco has admitted that
irradiated water is flowing into the Pacific Ocean, which the
government estimates at 300 tons a day.

Other steps listed under the government’s emergency
measures include removing contaminated water from trenches at
the site and using a subterranean bypass to stop groundwater
reaching the reactors, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

Ice Walls

Measures under consideration for the next one to two years
include fencing off the reactors with what would be the world’s
longest underground “ice walls.”

These comprise coolant pipes, sunk as deep as 40 meters
underground, to turn soil into permafrost. One wall would
prevent water flowing from hillsides from coming into contact
with reactors, the other would block radiated water from
entering the ocean. The government is still working out how much
this would cost, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

Motegi also gave Tepco until mid-September to restart a
water filtration system known as Alps, which was taken off-line
on Aug. 8 due to corrosion. The loss of Alps, one of two systems
for filtering water used to cool reactor fuel, adds to the
contamination levels of water in the plant’s storage tanks,
hundreds of which may be susceptible to leaks. Alps is designed
to strip out contaminants such as strontium, linked to bone
cancer.

Contaminated Water

Tepco said today that it set up a headquarters to deal with
the storage of contaminated water. The task force would be
headed by President Naomi Hirose, the company said in a
statement.

The tank that leaked had levels of beta radiation of 80
million becquerels per liter, including strontium, Tepco said on
Aug. 20. That’s 8 million times the limit for drinking water
under health ministry guidelines.

There are about 350 tanks of similar design to the leaky
unit. Two others have had radioactive hot-spots detected on
their seams. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has called the
possibility of other tanks leaking the biggest concern at the
Fukushima site.

Tank Inspection

An inspection of the leaking tank, which can hold 1,000
metric tons of irradiated water, was inconclusive, according to
utility official Noriyuki Imaizumi on Aug. 24. Imaizumi said the
tank had been built in a different location before earth
subsidence forced it to be disassembled and moved to its current
site. He said it isn’t known if this contributed to the leak.

The nuclear regulator is also concerned about hundreds of
smaller tanks with a storage capacity of about 100 tons each,
Shinji Kinjo, who leads a disaster task force formed by the
agency, said today. Unlike the 1,000 ton-capacity tanks that
hold most of the plant’s stored water, the smaller tanks aren’t
surrounded by protective cement barriers. Last week’s leak
reached the soil because a drainage valve on one such barrier
was open.

Tepco’s monitoring of the storage tanks was inadequate and
it failed to keep records of its inspections, Kinjo said.

The regulator rated the leak as a 3 on the 7-stage
International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale or INES,
denoting a “serious incident.” That’s the highest-level
accident since the March 2011 nuclear crisis itself.